Random Travel Missives: January 2011

So, with my beloved Wisconsin Badgers headed to the Rose Bowl, we decided (or perhaps I decided and Nicole conceded) that we would head out to Cali and watch our guys play a little ball in the Grandaddy of Them All and take in the sights in crazy So-Cal. Here's my posting on this great trip.

We left from Minneapolis on Thursday December 30, 2010. We drove over a bit early to MSP as it was raining (!) on the way over and we were worried about freezing rain on the roads. So, we got to Minny a bit early (ok, a lot early). To counter this, Nicole went into some paper store and had me sitting in the parking lot listening to depressing Minnesota sports radio for a frickin' hour. Seriously. An hour. Two texts and tears of boredom finally summoned her from the store and we were on our way to MSP. Flights good on US Airways, through Phoenix and then into the worst airport I've ever seen - Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. Crazy small, rundown, crappy carpeting, just a depressing place to fly into.

Good thing is Hotel Amaranno is just a few miles from that awful hole of an airport, so the drive in on Thursday night was easy. The Hotel Amaranno is located in a residential setting and is a great little boutique hotel. Nice lobby, nice little hotel bar, and a really cool rooftop patio with views of the surrounding mountain (and strip mall), as well as a great work out room which we put to good use on Friday morning.

Since we got late on Thursday, just chilled in the hotel bar for dinner and up to the room with an early start on Friday. Of course, we got up way early on Friday (its 2 hours later to us and PCT is crazy). After a little workout and something quick to eat in the room, we drove up to the Hollywood sign on a path that Nicole got the buzz on from a high school classmate. The drive up is on Italian-style winding hillside roads just wide enough for 1.5 cars. These hills had some amazing houses perched along cliffsides and with amazing views of the little valleys and nooks on the hillsides. Some houses are huge, some are really small (less than 800 sq. ft I bet based upon what you see from the road. Of course we came around one curve to find a monster garbage truck bearing down on us - reverse down the hill and off to the side was an interesting moment.

Thses are some cool pictures. The one with the fence is the guy's house we parked in front of. When you get up to the hill, you see that there's no parking, just a very small area to park. We poked around, took a few pictures and then we were off to Santa Monica Pier.

Folks, Santa Monica Pier sucks. It is trashy, gimicky, and boring. Nice beach, but it was far too cool for swimming. Temps around 60 with nice sunshine for Friday and Saturday.

Friday night we went out for dinner with Keith and Karen and Chris and Kristi at Ago in West Hollywood. Ago is owned by Robert DeNiro, nice looking Italian spot. Food was good, not great. Fun atmosphere. Really pricy, not worth it, and the waiter added a 33% tip for himself! Yikes. Ended with $40 cab ride one way back to Burbank from WeHo and sleepy.

Saturday morning was Rose Bowl day. We spent the whole day at the Rose Bowl grounds and at the UW's Badger Blast pre-game party, which was really cool. We did not go to the Rose Bowl parade, which I'm ok with. People who went said it was ok, and I went when I was there in 1993 and it just isn't my bag. Stadium there is a dump. Great settings with the amazing houses on beautiful hilltops and sunny skies, but the actual stadium is just a crumbling piece of junk. But, the Rose Bowl game was great, exciting and the good guys did not win. TCU beat Wisconsin in a good game, 21-19. Pretty non-descript dinner close to the hotel just after the game - trying to shake off the blues of losing the game and getting crazy lost in awfully confusing streets of post-game Pasedena. It was about a 9.5 out of 10 day on game day - only could've been better if the good guys won. BUCKY DID US PROUD NONETHELESS. GREAT SEASON BOYS.

On Sunday, we spent a very rainy, cold day in LA by going to the Getty Museum. This. Place. Is. Awesome. Very cool set up with marble piazza feel to the open space connecting the various buildings on a gorgeous hilltop with a great view of the expanse of LA land. Some features included various rooms fitted with original French furniture, fireplaces, mantles, etc. from the 18th century (some with stories like "This was on the list of assets of Louis XIV at his death..."), some really amazing manuscripts with decorative illustrations and amazing penmanship (a lost art says the blogger), and many other Impressionist paintings, etc. For Sunday lunch we had a nice meal in Santa Monica at an Italian restaurant called Bravo Cucina...was actually a better overall spot than Ago on NYE. Ate so much at lunch we didn't end up eating anything for dinner. Sat in hotel room from 2 pm on - just exhausted and ready to go home after a rainy day in LA.

Overall, great trip, lots of fun. More from LA frankly than I was expecting. Not a city that compares in my mind with San Francisco, our favorite spot in Cali.

On to the next travel experience...coming in the not too distant future.